Nigeria
government on Wednesday [April 29] expressed "deep disappointment" at
the execution by firing squad of four of its citizens for drugs offenses in
Indonesia and offered its condolences to the men's families.

"The
Federal Government of Nigeria has received with deep disappointment news of the
execution of four Nigerians, Messrs Martin Anderson, Okwudili Oyatanze, Jamiu
Abashin and Sylvester Obiekwe by the government of Indonesia for drug-related
offenses," a statement read.

The
four men were executed early Wednesday along with two convicts from Australia,
one from Brazil and an Indonesian, despite repeated appeals for mercy from
foreign governments and the men's families. President Goodluck Jonathan and
Foreign Minister Aminu Wali had made "spirited appeals for clemency",
most recently at an Asian-African summit in the Indonesian capital Jakarta last
week.

In
the face of a storm of international criticism, Indonesia has defended its
actions, saying they were a key part of its "war on drugs".

Okwudili Oyatanze

There
had been confusion about the nationalities of the four Africans, with Nigeria's
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) saying last week that Anderson was
Ghanaian.

Abashin
meanwhile was also known as Raheem Agbaje Salami, according to the NDLEA, and
was traveling on a Spanish passport when he was arrested with heroin in his
suitcase at the airport in Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, in
September 1998.

Obiekwe,
49, also used the name Nwolise.

The
Nigerian government expressed its condolences to the men's families but also
warned its nationals "to desist from drug trafficking and other offenses
that attract maximum punishment in several countries of the world".

The
death penalty is legal in Nigeria and the men's cases have not attracted the
same level of interest and outrage as in other countries where the punishment
is outlawed.